Not Annoyed
by Yosen's Pink
Summary: I'm a normal girl, as far as normal girls go. The thing that makes me stand out from the rest of the girls from my class, is the fact that I coach the boys' basketball team and the fact that my bust size is a below average B. Aida Riko in her senior year realises she's going to live and die alone. But is that true? Somehow, she ends up in a mixer, with what school! Riko/Midorima
1. Chapter 1

I guess I'm a normal girl, as far as normal girls go. The only thing that makes me stand out from the rest of the girls from my class, is the fact that I coach the boys' basketball team and also the fact that my bust size is a below average B. Trust me, I am not proud of the latter fact, especially when this pompous pink haired brat keeps shoving her Fs into my face. That girl, did her breasts get genetically crossed with a cow's!?

Ahem, anyways, yeah, I guess I'm a normal 'chick'. And as any normal B-cup girl who trains boys' basketball teams, I'm single. Yes, you heard me correct. Despite spending an hour or two a day with a group of boys, none have even thought of approaching me. It's kind of sad, really, but I prefer not to loiter about on this matter.

* * *

I pour myself a glass of milk and checked the expiration date on the carton. About a week or so left until it expires, I suppose I can go grocery shopping this weekend for more. Personally, I don't even know why I'm drinking milk anymore, as my legs refuse to stretch and my height refuses to grow. I used to be really obsessed about my physical features back in middle school and I guess I just grew out of it, eventually, after I was asked to be the coach. It seems like coaching is the main priority in my life outside of school work right now, which I have no problem with, it's not like I have anything else to worry about. Putting the carton back into the fridge and the glass which I have emptied into the sink, I pulled my bangs back with my hair pins.

Then, I went through the morning procedures, such as getting dressed and getting to school on time, without fail, of course. Seirin High, the lovely and peaceful school which I attend. Not. It's never peaceful as long as my basketball playing knuckle heads are around. Across the courtyard I could see Kuroko-kun, my underclassman, who never fails to scare the shit out of me with his misdirection, albeit accidentally. And next to him, talking about Air Jordans or whatever, was his 'light' Kagami Taiga, another underclassman, one that is 180cm in height, but is afraid of dogs. He can also cook, something I cannot do. Kuroko-kun seems to spot me from my position by the gates, and he waves. I nodded back as acknowledgement of his presence, something I don't do much.

Opposite of them, sitting under the hallways' shade, was the other half of the team, the seniors, or in other words, my classmates. Mitobe was eating something, presumably his breakfast, one he probably packed himself and Hyuuga-kun was sitting opposite of him, procrastinating about something. I swear, he's going to grow old sooner than all of us. Izuki was being quiet as always, I'm pretty sure he was making more lame puns in his head, you know. Kiyoshi was sitting, like he usually did, trying to calm Hyuuga down from whatever he was procrastinating about.

* * *

It struck me then, watching my basketball team in their own groups, that I realised I had no friends of my own gender, or any friends outside of the team. I don't feel bad, I never will, it's just very weird. And sometimes lonely, but it's not like I have time to make any friends. Or get a boyfriend. Or keep up with regular trends. Oh, okay, I'm not the most sociable person- Okay, I'm going to die alone with dogs, cats are too stereotypical, anyways.

* * *

On the matter of getting a boyfriend, I don't suppose any of the boys in the team would like to go out with me? No, definitely no one. I trained them to be ballsy, if they wanted to ask me out, they would've! Right? Right. I guess I could date people outside of Seirin, but I'm not too sure how I'd do that… But again-it's not like I have time! And besides, there's no one who catches my attention… The Generation of Miracles are quite the extraordinary batch of boys, but I don't know any of them too well to consider dating them. Don't get me wrong, they are cute though.

A mixer? That's way too tacky for my taste. And nobody would ask me, anyways, so it's a ridiculous idea in the first place. If you haven't deduced it already, I'm not exactly the most popular girl in the whole class, and I don't want to be. It would be nice to have some more female friends though. I walk up the stairs to my homeroom. Some girls were gathered in the corridor, gossiping over something. Probably the boys. Pfft, those girls think they've seen something. I know I've seen _somethings_. I recognise Yamato Ayumi, the tall, pretty one from 2-C. Dumb slut. Oops, sorry, not sorry.

"But Aya-chan! We've got to find _someone_ to go! They've got more people!" Some girl moaned. "You know how it works!"

"Yes, yes, I've heard you." The 'Aya-chan' said. "Well, it's not like we can just pop someone up out of the blue."

I decided to walk on before they notice I was eavesdropping. A mixer, huh? Well, they were bitches, I figured they'd be hooking up with equally bitchy boys, you know, that I was interested in going or whatever.

"Oi, you there." Yamato said, obviously directed at me. "You look like you could use some hooking up, what's your name?"

"W-What? Why should I tell you?" I spat back at her, I didn't need help from this dumb slut. By the looks of her, anyways. "And by the way, I'm not interested in your dumb mixer."

"That's what you say to yourself." She replied, bitchy as always. "So anyways, are you coming or not? Ugh, why am I even asking, you look like you're coming."

"Pfft, don't flatter yourself."

"What was that? Here's my number," She tossed me a crunched up piece of notepaper. "This Saturday, nine, yeah? That café, just around the corner. You coming, yeah?"

"No."

"Don't lie to yourself," She snarled. "So, are you coming?"

"N-No."

"Look," Ayumi rolled her eyes behind her fake lashes, at me. Seriously, this bitch does not know how to back the fuck off. "We all know you and that kid with glasses broke off and you've been scarred ever since and you swore never to date again, or whatever, but… Wouldn't this be interesting? See who's out on the market?"

She does have a point. But I didn't date Hyuuga. We never dated or anything like that. It must be the time we spent together that influenced our classmates into thinking shut bull crap. But… I did think I should be meeting more people… I suppose, there could be no harm in this, if I didn't like them, I could just leave, yeah?

"Alright." I agreed. "But don't think I'm doing this because you were correct or whatever."

That night, I was awake until three, thinking about what I should be wearing. Dad thinks I'm worried about an upcoming game, but he's incorrect. And, I forgot to ask who we were supposed to be 'mixing' with. I suppose my brain was not functioning very well that day. I guess I will have to try again tomorrow.

* * *

**AN: Yeah. So… First person Riko! It's my first time writing anything in first person, really, so I hope you guys will give me feed back on this. And, is anyone curious who, or rather, which school she'll be meeting? Don't fret, this story won't be OC infected, I just needed a mean girl. Or rather, mean girls. Read and review please peeps. I PROMISE WILL NOT DELETE THIS STORY. Unless it gets no feedback.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, what is Riko-chan doing, dressed up like this, on a Saturday morning!"

I grunted under my breath. Leave it up to the dad to embarrass you in every way, even when you're not in public. If you haven't heard him, he said it was Saturday, which also meant it was the day for the bloody mixer I (In a fit of dumbfoundness and to get the dumb slut bags off my back) had agreed to participate in. I doubt they are going to pay me much attention anyways, hence, I decided not to dress extravagant for the occasion, I intended to blend into the seats bedding and disappear. I threw on a plain yellow t-shirt that day and shorts, knee shorts mind you, not the ones that could easily be mistaken for denim underwear and a hat, a baseball hat, the cheap knock off ones. Sneakers to go and my purse, which hung over one shoulder, stuffed with my phone and tissues and a note pad, which comes with it's own pen, mind you. And also the little amount of makeup I owned. Anyways, I was prompted to turn around and just stroll out the door, but I, being the polite person I was, said a short 'bye' to dad first.

As soon as I was out the door, I immediately opened my stash of makeup out. Dad would never allow me to put on makeup infront of him, he thinks I'll be squirting hormones out every corner if I tried to put a little chapstick on. It's been a while since I've used cosmetics, but I think I remember the few techiniques I was taught, back when my mother was around. I dabbed my eyelids with this _really _light shade of beige. I think the professionals call it Ecru, but who has time to name every single shade of beige? Not me. And then I brushed my face with blush, it was also very hard to notice, so was the lipgloss I coated my lips with. I suppose that should do, it didn't do much to improve my current appearance, but I couldn't care less, you know? My phone rang. Great, how'd that cow get my number?

"Hello?" I said, uninterested in whatever they had to say. "Aida here."

"Hey, Aida." The squeaky whiny voice from the other end struck me. Yep, I was correct, I find myself to be correct often, nowadays. "Are you on your way?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way."

I hung up because I really had nothing else to talk to her about, I'm not a person to do things that are trivial. Except maybe when punishment is needed.

* * *

When I got to the café round the corner of school, quite the group was already gathered there. I was surprised, to say the least. Why was I surprised? Well, I was surprised because there were people who wore their uniforms outside of school. And second, those people were wearing bright orange (If not blinding orange) shirts, emblazoned with one of the three kings' logo, Shutoku High's logo. So, my question was answered, it seemd Shutoku was the one these cows managed to set up a mixer with. Well, judging by the shirts, they must've been from the football team because I would seriously be disappointed about Midorima and that kid's choices if they agreed to embark on this journey called 'the mixer'.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. And last but not least, a mop of neatly combed kelp-coloured hair stuck out from the crowd, not that it- I mean he-was not already easy enough to spot. There is only one person I know who goes to Shutoku and has kelp-like hair. Midorima Shintarou, number 6, Shutoku's starting member and shooting guard. I never fail myself on players' datas. It's one of the things I pride myself in.

He seems to be unenjoying the event, more focused on ordering his milkshake than actually conversing with any of the girls. On the other hand however, the cows were rather smitten with his sullen personality. As if I'd get myself involved with someone who speaks little and when he does speak, says things I don't like to hear. No thank you, not on my agenda. I have to say, his shooting skills are rather impressive, not less than what I know and expect of a Miracle. But why am I rambling about the past? Silly me.

* * *

"Hi there." I approached the group cautiously. "Sorry I'm late."

I take the seat next to this girl with long dyed orange hair, her face smeared with cheap cosmetics and she smelled like drugstore perfume. I don't blame her, not everyone can afford proper makeup and beauty products. Some people just don't like them altogether. She, like most other girls, was glued to Midorima. Why am I even surprised? The kid grew to be quite a looker, not that he wasn't one already.

"You are?"

I looked up from my notebook, the one I was doodling in and looked at him. Looks like he finally decided on what sandwich and milkshake he wanted.

"I'm Aida. Or, more commonly known as Seirin's Lady Coach." I introduced myself, monotonously. "And you are Midorima, Shutoku's impressive shooting guard."

He seemed quite flattered at the word 'impressive'. I guess being a Miracle spoiled him. I hope not.

"Ne, Shin-chan, you've actually found yourself a girl- Wait a minute!" A cheeky, irritating male voice said to the orange-look-a-like shooting guard. "You're Seirin's Lady Coach! What are you doing here?"

Takao Kazunari, Shutoku's Point Guard, possessor of the Hawk Eye. Also a very impressive player.

"I am here, on a mixer date." I stated the obvious. "Takao, was it?"

"Yeah. Well, I wouldn't want to steal Shin-chan's lady away from him… You kids have fun now, daddy's gonna go pick up some real girls."

"Shut up, Takao!" Kelp-head yelled at his partner. "I'm sorry about that."

"Yeah, well, you better be." I snorted. This was totally rude of me, I do realise, but this mixer was turning out to be rather boring, as no one has caught my attention just yet. I went back to doodling on my notepad. I was drawing a bird in diapers. I don't know, flash of inspiration, I suppose. "So, Takao coaxed you into going, yes?"

"How did you know?" He asked me, like it wasn't the most obvious thing in the world. "The same thing must have happened to you."

"Yes, no, duh."

He seemed to enjoy this conversation, I have no problem with it, but I don't think it's the type of talking most people do during a mixer. I have no problem. After my failed doodle of a bird in diapers, I moved on to planning my team's next plays. We come back right to the start of all my problems, the team and their plays. I don't mind. Nothing seems to catch my interest here, anyway.

* * *

Takao's enjoying himself, chugging down milkshakes and picking up females flawlessly. Midorima did it without opening his mouth. The Miracles must have it in them. Not just Kise-kun, I guess the lot of them were quite the lookers towards the females. I don't have time for that. Not when I have to write out plans to defeat these Miracles. Midorima is occupied by his own book, something about Japanese Literature. I noticed he still has his bandages on. He doesn't like to dress different, I can deduct. He was wearing regular khaki coloured trousers and his school's t-shirt and sneakers. Nothing extravagant. You could almost say we matched in this environment, but I dare you to say so. I ordered my own milkshake after he ordered one back then and downed it. The place has a good recipe, but perhaps it served a little too much for its customer's bladders. I am not going to go into further details. I just up and left for the little girl's room.

On my way back, I was followed by someone. At first, I thought it was just another customer of the shop visiting the restrooms, that was until the said person grabbed me by my wrists and jammed me against the wall. Hard. So I knew it was a male, if not a bulky heavy weight female weight lifting contendor. But let's face the facts now. He was built and I kind of suspected he was from the mixer.

"You know, that kelp head seems quite smittened with you." He sneered.

I have no interest or intentions into becoming a victim of sexual harassment, but seeing as he overpowers me, I took the cautious road.

"I and Midorima have no relations to each other. We are merely acquaintances." I said, calmly. "Now, if you would let me go."

"No."

I tried to tense my wrists, to show signs of a soon-to-be-struggle, but he doesn't squirm. Alright, this bitch does not know what's coming.

"Let. Me. Go." I stated, again, very calm. "If you don't mind."

"No."

I wriggle under neath him a bit, forceful, but he refuses to let me go. So, he was rather stubborn, I'd say. Naturally, I kneed him in the groin and attempted to run. He was stubborn, like I said earlier and he managed to grab my ankle. Fucking son of a bitch! I tried to crawl away, of course. But he has me securely pinned under him. Again, fucking son of a fucking bitch! I managed to wriggle free my left hand, which I fisted and slammed it against his cheek. I had it in me, alright.

* * *

I have never felt so much pain and humiliation in my life. The red mark still burned across my cheek. He pressed the ice firmly against my cheek. It hurted. That guy left quite the dent on my face.

"Are you okay, Aida-san?" He asked me. "On behalf of Shutoku, I apologise to you."

"No, it wasn't your fault." I reassured him. "You got injured too, worry about yourself first."

After I punched the jerk who tried to harass me across the face, he rebutted by slapping me. I screamed, it hurted, you know. And the first person to come running was Kelp-Glasses. I was surprised, but any help was help. And I needed help then. He threw my harasser over soon enough and it was basic rough housing from then. Somewhere along the way, that kid managed to trample on Midorima's left hand. Now, I may be wrong, but I do believe Midorima-kun takes care of his hands very well, he believes the affect his play style. Needless to say, we wrapped him up pretty nice, Takao came running when he heard 'Shin-chan's' voice from the hallway. I don't think we'd see my harasser again.

Takao and Midorima stayed behind to escort me home, after we spent an hour or so nursing each other's wounds.

We had to convinve Kelp-Glasses to take off his bandages so we can see if he was badly bruised, it was a hard feat, but Takao managed to coerce him into doing it. His fingers weren't badly injured, his index finger was heavily bruised compared to the others, I did not know how that happened.

"Aww, you guys are so cute!" Takao squealed in the background. "At least we knew that this mixer brought two people closer!"

"Takao, please, shut up." Midorima groaned. "That was the second and I hope the last time I would ever have to rough house anyone."

"Oh really? Who did you punch first?"

"The same is applied to every Generation of Miracles member. Haizaki." He answered. "We have all ran into him at one point after middle school."

"I see." I replied. "Well, Takao-kun, please take care of Midorima, I have to go home now."

"Yeah? Okay, I'll take care of Shin-chan. Like I always do."

"Bye."

* * *

**AN: Yep. I got another chapter up, straight after I wrote the first chappie! Yay me! It's a bit longer now, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it! I guess, if I had to say, I always thought Mido-chin would be the one to start taking an interest first… But then Riko would be the one who wears the pants of the relationship. Just sayin'. Anyways, read and review? Thanks a lot, guys.**


	3. Chapter 3

School resumed soon enough after that eventful Saturday morning. I walked into school and overheard Izuki talking about this streetball tournament he knew of from a poster he saw on the way to school. I think the idea of us participating in a streetball tournament on the weekend is a good one. There were few, if not almost non-existent times where the boys actually came up with tolerable ideas, this was one of those few times. Besides, they'd be occupied with the tournament to go about bothering me with problems such as 'I ran out of bandages' and 'Kagami says he won't go to practice if Nigou doesn't get potty trained' and 'THERE'S A COCKROACH IN MY SHOE!'.

"C-Coach! You were here the whole time?" Hyuuga shrieked. I rolled my eyes. If it wasn't the most obvious thing that I was here all along. "S-So, do you agree?"

"Yeah, sure, why not? Knock yourselves out." I gave them my approval. "It'd be fun, right?"

"Are you sure you aren't busy, coach?" Koganei squeaked. I turned to look at him like a horn just grew out of his forehead. "Like, are you sure you're not busy?"

"What do you mean, Koganei-kun?" I really did not know what he was talking about. "I'm free this weekend."

"B-But, me and Mitobe saw you at this mixer with these boys-

"I only went because some girls asked me to. They were missing a few spots, so I agreed out of good heart." I told him. "And besides, just because I went to a mixer you immediately assume I've got a date!? I'm so disappointed in you."

Koganei looked like he was hit by a ten ton hammer called 'GUILT'. Oh yes, I also love making my boys feel things they shouldn't feel. And I dare you to say 'That's what she said'. Go on, I double dare you. Anyways, I wonder if they noticed Midorima and Takao in the sea of teenage boys. I doubt it. He was Koganei. It wasn't like he was Izuki.

* * *

The morning of the Sunday in which we were supposed to meet up for the tournament, I rolled out of bed, like everyday. Dad cooked breakfast today. Which mean I opted for a store bought pack of Swiss rolls I stash away at the back of the fridge. Dessert for breakfast. This day was going to start out well. I hope. The Swiss roll I bought from this vendor by the convenient store was chocolate with this extra delicous two layer of cream. I swear, I'm going to grow. Grow sideways, not length wise, of course. I shoved the rolls into my mouth and made way to the bathroom. Standard face wash and teethbrushing. Like the usual.

I then got dressed. Another t-shirt. This one was green. Like muddy green, the mud that sticks on to your combat boots, not the muddy green that was Midorima's hair. I wonder if he was going to be there. I forgot to properly thank him and Takao for helping me. Maybe I should buy them Swiss rolls. Swiss rolls _are _delicious. I slid the pins into my hair and secured my sandal straps before leaving. The phone rang. I guess people have a tendency to ring me up when I'm about to leave for their events. Izuki called.

"Hi there, Izuki-kun." I wedged the phone between my cheek and my shoulders as I opened the door. "I'm on my way."

"Yes. I was just wondering if you could grab us something light to snack on during the tournament." He said. "We will pay you later."

"Oh, okay."

He hung up on me. Bastard didn't even say thank you. I may be their coach, but I was not their bank account, especially not one they can just swipe across and expect goods to roll out. I guess Swiss rolls it is, for lunch.

* * *

When I got to the park which the event was supposed to be held at, the team was already setting up their own picnic corner, whilst Hyuuga was away signing sheets of papers. It was a rather mediocre crowd that day, it wasn't crowded. It wasn't a big event, I thought. Which meant that the odds in which we will meet a Miracle is low. Good lord, yes. I strode over to the corner under a tarp which Mitobe was currently setting up and placed my bag of rolls on to the cloth. The only players there were Kuroko (Who was, apparently having a heat stroke), Kiyoshi and Mitobe. Kagami must have wandered off to see who was here. And well, I already explained where Hyuuga was supposed to be.

"Good morning, Coach." Kuroko greeted me through his constant fanning of himself. "I am not feeling too well."

"I can see that…" I told him. "Stay here, I'll go see if I can get some ice for you."

And I did what I said I would do. I ran towards the medical tent and asked for ice. The nice lady said that the ice packs were at the back of the boxes.

The tower of boxes were tall. And big alright. I could perhaps go through all these boxes, if, maybe I was 6'10 like Murasakibara was. Which, I was not. However, the boxes which contained the ice packs were easy to spot, as they were right by the fridge and labeled 'ICE PACKS'. I rummaged through said box and picked up a few bags of ice. The nurse said I needed to return them before the tournament ended, and I agreed. Besides, what would I steal ice packs for?

"Kuroko-kun!" I yelled at the half-dead boy who was constantly being fanned at by Koganei, who had returned from the restroom. "I got the ice."

"Thank you, Coach." He weakly grunted.

I swear, I sometimes wonder why Kuroko does not shatter when the ball touches him. He looked so pale and sickly it looked like he bathe in those vanilla milkshakes he was so obsessed with every day. I place the ice pack on to Kuroko's forehead and he seemed to relax a little. Enter Kagami.

"Oh-Oi, what's with him?!" The idiot shrieked at the sight of his partner looking like he was about to pass away any time soon. "Coach, did you cook again!?"

Well, way to go. Guess someone's loving these triple training I'm going to give out. To the whole team, may I add. I shot him a glare that I mustered up easily enough, and he shut up.

* * *

I love this team though. I may be harsh on them, but there are no other people I have seen that have dedicated this much into the sport. I am proud of them, I admit, whether or not they are the best. Coaching them brings happiness to me. It also makes up most of my life right now, outside of school work. I don't mind, like I said before. Kuroko seems to have drifted off to sleep. He does look very adorable, mind you. I have no intention of becoming anything with him, though. I have no intention on becoming anything with anyone right now.

"Coach… How's Kuroko?" Kiyoshi asked, thoughtful. He was a good kid. Wow, am I sounding like dad, I should stop over hearing dad talk to his friends about me and _my _friends. "Is he going to be able to play?"

"Yeah." I answered firmly. "He just needs to rest for a while."

Teppei nodded happily and went back to chatting with Hyuuga about Sengoku Musou 3 and the character designs. Funny, I thought Hyuuga was the Sengoku nerd here. Kagami looks like he could explode, he must be excited.

"So, which schools are here?"

"Hmm? Which schools?" Kagami said as he munched on one of my rolls. "Well, I think Yosen's here. And maybe Touou, I think. That creepy glasses guy is here."

"You mean Imayoshi?" I corrected him. "Touou's former captain?"

"Yeah, I guess that's him."

"Oi, Hyuuga, what's the schedule?" I asked. "I need to know to plan out Kuroko's playing time frame."

"Oh, right." Hyuuga rummaged through his short pockets for a carelessly folded piece of paper. "Here you go."

I open the wrinkled and slightly torn piece of paper. I nodded. We won't be playing until a while later, Kuroko can rest just fine. I suppose I will do some scouting and go watch other matches.

"I'll go check out the matches, yeah?" I announced as I shoved a couple of rolls into my bag. "I'll be back when we're up to play."

"Yeah, okay."

* * *

The first match was supposed to happen on Court A. That was close to the medical infirmary, if I remember correctly. I don't forget anything, much. I did forget to thank Midorima and Takao. But I'm sure I can thank them later. I waited for a while before the teams finally filed in. It was a mesh fenced court and had benches lining each side for spectators. I sat on the edge of a bench as I watched the two teams.

One team was rather average looking. I guess they joined for fun. The other team had something peculiar about them… I swear I remembered one of them from somewhere…

"Ah! You're Seirin's Lady Coach!"

Cue for the 'Seirin's Lady Coach' line. I sighed and nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, I am." I answered. "And what team are you?"

"We're Shutoku's B team." The guy said as he put on his bib. "If you're here to watch the regulars, they're over by Court C."

"Really? Thank you." I picked up my bag and bowed to him. "Sorry for bothering you."

"It's nothing!"

I picked up my belongings and strolled over to Court C. It had the same layout as Court A. The only thing that was different were the players. As I expected from the guy's testimony, the Shutoku regulars were all there. Takao was as chirpy and loud as always. If I had to say, he speaks for both him and Midorima. I wonder if they noticed I was here. I took out my phone and snapped a picture of Shutoku A and sent it to Hyuuga. Then I shoved the phone back into my bag and watched the match play out.

Shutoku beat the other team effortlessly, a nice 93 to 24. It was expected. I was about to leave, until Takao seemed to have spotted me from his bench. It was massive ear rape after that.

"Oi, Shin-chan! Look, it's Seirin's Lady Coach!"

I have a name, you know, I was prompted to say that.

"Takao, please, control your volume." Midorima walked over to us two, holding a can of red bean soup. If I wasn't wrong, he was also rather obsessed with this product. "Good morning, Aida-san."

"Ah, yeah, good morning, Midorima. And you too, Takao." I replied politely. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to thank you guys properly for helping me back then… There!"

I placed a packeto of rolls in their own respective hands and watched them display looks of confusion on their faces. I suppose not everyone's a fan of Swiss rolls, huh? Even though the rolls were delicious.

"You guys don't like it?" I asked. I was not offended. I just expected them to at least say thank you, but I dismissed that thought soon enough. "So anyways, what are you guys doing here?"

"We're playing streetball, duh!" Takao input. "So I guess Seirin's here too, huh?"

"Yep, we're here." I unwrapped a roll. "But we're not scheduled to play until after a while."

"Then, would you like to come watch us play while you wait?" Midorima offered. He was polite as always. He was the most polite of the Miracles, other than Akashi, who was rather… mental. "We have a break while Seirin plays, and visa versa."

"Really? That's nice of you, but my team needs me." I declined. I had better things to do. Like see if Kuroko has woke up yet. And to be there if he decides to take a 'nap' in the middle of a game. "Maybe when Kuroko-kun wakes up."

"Oh?" He inquired, a brow raised. "Then don't let us bother you. Come, Takao."

"Aww, Shin-chan! Can't we try to convince her to come!?" Takao whined. "Maybe the opponents would get jealous and lose focus-

"What kind of logic is that, Takao?!" Midorima yelled at his team mate after he assumed I was far away enough to hear. "That is not something you say infront of a-a girl!"

I chuckled. Takao was indeed charismatic, alright. Midorima? I guess he's not quite the talker. I should get back to the team.

"Uh, bye, Takao, bye, Midorima." I did a light bow out of respect. "I'll see you around."

* * *

**AN: So. Three chapters back to back. I think I'm on a roll here. Now, if I could just update my Soul Eater fanfic like that… hehe. Anyways, I apologise if any of Riko's thoughts may have come off as an implication that she has romantic feelings towards anyone. That doesn't happen quite that soon, yet. If you don't notice, I'm taking things slow. So, there's not going to even be 'W-What, why do I even care about whether or not he's here!?' soon. I'll see if I can update once every week. Cheers. Read and review please!**

**Oh, and I almost forgot. Thank you to those who have reviewed! Anyone wondering where these two might bump into each other again? Haha, that's for me to know, and you to find out! **


	4. Chapter 4

"You are definitely cheating." I told him, with my arms crossed over my chest. "There is no way a mortal human could do that."

He merely nudged his glasses up a bit and shook his head in satisfaction. His dark haired friend leaned against the machine, looking like he had gone through this conversation plenty of times already, which I was sure he had. What I could hardly believe, however, were two things. The first, is that somehow, I ran into these two again. And the second, was the three blinking red digits above me. The two I ran into? Yes, none other than Shutoku's own Light & Shadow duo, Takao and Midorima.

I ran into them at the arcade, the place we were then.

* * *

Dad was out that Sunday, out where? I honestly don't know. Hejust texted me that he was going to be out for the week.

I was making breakfast (Unwrapping cold pizza) and scrolling through my text inbox. To my surprise, it was empty. I guess the boys weren't up to anything that morning. So I find myself with a Sunday, a Sunday which was not infested with boys running amock, possibly burning the place down. Izuki didn't even text me his latest pun. I even counted to see how long it would take for the sky to fall down.

I decided to head to this arcade near my house, I haven't visited an arcade for quite a while. I'll use the excuse of coaching the team, which wasn't an excuse, for it is true.

* * *

And this is where I wound up. By the side of these two, again. According to Midorima, Takao dragged him here for some fun out of the blue. Takao retorted by saying that he needed to relax to further improve his gameplay, which Midorima immediately snorted at derisively. I never got how those two became friends, they clashed so heavily. Anyways, Takao asked if I wanted to join them in. I had nothing else to do, and company was always good. So I tagged along with them.

To my surprise, Takao was extremely proficient at Tetris and cleared the blind rounds too. He, however, was not so good in Whack The Mole games, with the reason of them being too cute to whack. Midorima snorted derisively at this too. Sometimes, it seems like he gets annoyed by everything, well, everything Takao does anyway.

"If I am cheating, care to enlighten me on how I am doing so?" He said. "It is a game of physical ability, is it not?"

"Yeah, Riko-chan, how?" Takao added. "I mean, I'm not taking sides with Shin-chan, but how would he cheat?"

"First, Takao, I don't remember telling you my name, nor do I remember telling you that you can call me 'Riko-chan'," I scowled at Takao. "And second, I don't know, but there is no way that score is humanely possible."

"Maybe you've forgotten the fact that Shin-chan's a shooting guard." Takao shrugged at me. "You know, not that I'm saying that you would forget such a crucial thing. But a score of 312? Not even his best score."

"Takao, flattery will get you no where." Midorima told him. "Aida-san, is there a game you would like to try? You have not yet to play anything."

It was true that I haven't tried my skill on any machines yet, but it was already entertaining to hear and watch Takao yell lewd words as the rigged claw machines dropped his stuffed tanuki. Now that I remember it, there _was _this karaoke box that seemed fun.

"What's on your mind, Riko-chan?"

I must have looked distracted. I shook my head and told him that it was nothing, which Takao believed, but Midorima seemed not to. Takao soon dragged us off to another contraption.

* * *

'The Love Tester' stood infront of us, in all its tacky and mushy glory. I guess the creators of this contraption was desperate for some income, seeing as how they went this far to create the said Love Tester. Takao was busying himself with reading the instructions, whilst Midorima looked like he could barf at the tacky hearts and ribbon decorations which were painted on the game. It was a high pole with a light bars, indicating percentage. And a box of prizes for the lucky couples who managed to score an 80+.A stylus panel was at the bottom of it, indicating we insert our information in it.

"Takao, I surely hope you do not intend to waste your money on this tacky and cheap contraption." He said, pointing at the massive heart that was on top of the pole. "Because my respect for you would dry up completely, if that was possible."

"Come on Shin-chan! It's just for fun!" Takao slid a token into the slit. "Yeah? You're with me, right, Riko-chan?"

"I don't see how it could hurt to try." I told him. "It would be interesting to see how tacky this could get."

"You're with him, Aida-san?" Midorima asked me, surprised. "Well, you _are _a girl."

"Is that supposed to be an insult, Midorima?" I raised an eyebrow. I sincerely hope he wasn't a sexist pig. "Anyways, since I haven't had the chance to try anything yet, I propose we try this."

"Okay… You guys are going to have to enter your information though."

I proceeded to do it first, as Kelp-Head does not look like he'll budge any time soon. The panel sat before me, asking me to touch-type in my name. Aida Riko. Easy enough. Then it sparkled and another question popped up, asking me in cursive font what my star sign was. I swear, if the results are based on star signs and they turn out to be wrong (According to Midorima), the company who made this will be receiving a very long and detailed letter of complaint about this.

"Hmm, you are an Aquarius, Aida-san?" He peered over me. "It never struck me."

"Yeah, I don't really believe in horoscopes." I told him, which must have struck him pretty hard. "Oha Asa is funny to listen to, though."

It asked me a few other questions, such as my favourite colour and my favourite genre of books and it asked me to speak into the microphone stuck to the side of the machine. I was done with it, soon enough and it was Kelp-Head's turn. He typed way faster than I did. Apparently, he is a Cancer and his favourite colour is green, not because of it being his hair colour, but because he seems to have bad memories with each one of the Miracles, leading him to be afraid of each colour.

"Okay!" Takao chirped after we finished typing in our information. "Now, it says you guys have to put your hands on this panel together… So get to it!"

We placed our hands on the panel at the same time, and waited for the machine to do something. A few seconds later, it pinged and we looked up on to the beam to see our results. It ran straight up to… the second bar before it died.

"Hmm? Let's see… 23% only!?" The crow haired high schooler shrieked. "Wow, that's low!"

"She is an Aquarius, after all, we are not compatible." Midorima confirmed. "But I do not see how they would know that."

"Okay, okay, let me try with her then!" The other boy pushed Midorima aside. "Right, let's see here…"

* * *

"82%."

"That was surprisingly high." He said. "Ne, Shin-chan, are you jealous?"

"Why would I be?" Midorima said, as he scrolled through something on his phone. "Aida-san is a respectable acquaintance."

I found the game to be rather silly and the numbers were probably generated randomly. However, I did win a rather lovely and cute matching set of gloves. Though I had no idea what I would do with gloves in autumn, I stashed them away inside my messengers' bag. I had asked Takao if he anted them, but he said I could keep them. They were a lovely shade of burgundy and they had white stripes on them. For a tacky game, they had the taste in prizes.

After we had cleared the arcade, Midorima said that it was about time for lunch. A Majiburger chain was just across the arcade and we went there for lunch. Takao ordered a honey sauce chicken nugget and rice combo, with a cup of Milo. Midorima settled for beef and rice, with iced tea and I just went with a bacon cheeseburger, and a chocolate milkshake.

"So, Riko-chan, we've been running into each other a lot." Takao brought up. "Do you think it's fate?"

"Pfft, of course not, Takao." Kelp snorted. "Fate is not a thing. Neither is destiny."

"Really, Midorima?" I asked him. If the guy believed in horoscopes, why would he not believe in fate and destiny? It just did not make much sense to me. "But you believe in horoscopes."

"Astrology and Fate are two different things." He told me. "The beef here is quite good, considering it probably isn't beef at all."

"Where to next?" Takao cut in. "I was thinking we could go play some basketball."

"That's absurd, Takao." Kelpy said. "What would Aida-san do meanwhile?"

"No, it's okay, I'll just watch." It would be a good opportunity to see his plays more clearly. "I'm used to watching."

* * *

The park which Takao chose was small, consisting of only two basketball courts and a play ground. The courts were empty, the park was. We walked in and I took a seat on one of the benches while Takao took a ball out of his bag. It didn't look at all like a basketball container, his bag. Takao shot at the basket right away, and it went through cleanly.

"We should play some one-on-one, yeah?" He grinned, cheeky as always. "Shin-chan against me."

"Well then, I accept." Midorima cracked an almost invisible smile. "Let's get to it then. But rest assured, I have no intentions of losing."

"Okay, let's make a bet then!" Takao chirped. "If I win, you take Riko-chan on a date!"

"No." I told him. "And since when did I get dragged into this?"

"O-Okay then, you won't go out on a date with her!" He pulled back at his words after I glared at him. "But… how about… you treat both me and Riko-chan out to a meal someday, yeah?"

"Alright. However, if I win, _you_ will treat me and Aida-san to a meal." Megane-kun agreed. "Let's get to it then."

I really couldn't say no to a free meal. Yes, I know it sounds very cheap of me, but a free meal is a free meal. And it's a bonus when it's edible, because as I said, neither dad or I can cook.

* * *

The match took almost two hours to end, because neither would give up their wallets for my free meal. Midorima lead for a long while though and it wasn't until the phone's clock hit 3 and Takao finally admitted defeat and asked Midorima where he would like to go for dinner. He answered 'sushi'.

"Would you like sushi, Riko-chan?"

"Yes. That would be nice." I nodded. Any free meal was a free meal, and Midorima _was _the one who played. "I think it is up to Midorima to decide what we should eat, he played."

"Hmm. Yeah." He picked up his bag and began to walk away. "Well, come now."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're going to go eat sushi!"

"You're kidding."

"Nope!"

* * *

"This place is amazing." I complimented him. "Really, Takao, you've out done yourself."

"Not really, my cousin works this place." Takao answered me, but he was smiling. "But thank you anyways."

We had gone to this lovely little sushi place near Takao's home, he told us his home was close by. The pricing wasn't awfully bad and the food was delicious, so he didn't seem to have much of a complaint. Midorima was enjoying himself, you could tell, as he did not say a thing for the past 10 minutes. I had ordered Set C. It had soup and a variety of sushi displayed on a wooden platter. Midorima ordered a normal eel set and tea. Takao just ordered onomiyaki.

"I have to say, the food is very delicious." Megane-kun finally spoke up. "Thank you, Takao."

"Who are you and what have you done to Shin-chan?" Takao stared into Midorima's eyes. "Speak…. Nah, I'm just joking."

Takao. Just, Takao.

"So, do you guys have siblings?"

"I have a sister in middle school." Said Midorima. "Takao does not have any siblings. Thank the gods for his parents."

"What's that supposed to mean, Shin-chan?!" Said boy whined. "What about you, Riko-chan?"

"I don't have any siblings." I told them. "My mother and my father divorced when I was young."

"You are not yet old." Midorima dabbed his chin. There really wasn't anything there. "What is your test rank?"

"Leave it to Shin-chan to bore the conversation."

"I am 2nd out of more than 300 students." I told them proudly. I _was _proud of that achievement, it was the few things I prided myself in, it partly balances out the fact that I have a floodplain chest. "And… you two?"

"I'm 92nd out of 200." Takao said with a grin, though I do not know why, seeing as he was barely above average. "I barely got out of the dumb zone."

"I am 1st out of 200." Midorima replied. Woah. _You don't say._ "I do not stray from my studies whilst playing basketball. Takao is naturally dumb."

"Ne, Shin-chan! You're so mean!"

* * *

"Thanks for today." I bowed lightly. "It was fun."

After dinner, they had brought me home because Takao insisted. His friend just went along because it was the polite thing to do to a lady. I had no problems with that. They had been awfully nice to allow me to tag along and mooch off their money. I did pay, don't get me wrong, but it was the two of them that offered the money the most. I unlocked my door and stepped in.

"Oh, wait, would you like to come in for a drink?" I asked them in a fit of politeness. "I've got milk."

"No thank you, that meal got me quite full." Midorima rejected. "Maybe some other time."

"Aww, but Shin-chan! Can't we-

"Let's go, Takao, I'm sure Aida-san needs her rest, tomorrow is school, after all." He 'lightly' smacked Takao across his head. "Speaking of school, have you done your homework yet?"

"Ngh, you're just like my mother!"

"Let's go." He turned to me. "Good evening."

"Yeah, bye."

* * *

**AN: Four chapters back to back. Boy am I proud of myself. So, as you can see I tried to fit in some bonding here. I threw in Takao because I don't think Midorima and Riko would be that close to hang out alone yet. But it's obvious that Takao 'thinks' he can call Riko 'Riko-chan'! **

**Thank you for all the reviews and keep it coming! **


	5. Chapter 5

"So, Coach… How's he?"

"How's who?" I retorted at Seirin's captain as I skim through my homework to check for any missing pieces. "Make sure you know what you're talking about before you start talking, Hyuuga."

Hyuuga was slouched over the back of his chair with his chin on my desk, holding an electronic magazine, featuring an article on another one of his dumb games. I place my papers down and waited for his impending answer, one he lacked, apparently. My guess was that they were stalking me again. And to think I thought I had a Seirin-free day. I was so wrong. Said captain paled when he must have deducted that I knew of their wrong doings that day.

"Midorima and I are just friends. Besides, Takao was there too." I told him. "And need I tell you I am very disappointed with you all. I want to know who was the mastermind behind this."

"Izuki and Kiyoshi."

"I thought so."

It looks like somebody, or rather, some bodies want to have triple training today… Well, they only brought themselves the trouble, it wasn't like I was being unreasonably cruel. Hyuuga paled even more and I could feel a gallon of sweat drip from the back of his neck from being busted. I felt the urge to make sashimi out of him right there, but I thought it was uncalled for, seeing as I was only out with my friends whilst my other friends were out to stalk me being out with my friends. If you asked me, I did not know what I meant in that sentence, either.

The thought of my teammates thinking I was on a date with either of those two Shutoku boys made me want to clonk each of them over the head, save Kuroko, since he probably fainted from the heat to have done much. Anyways, those assumptions will end soon, as there is no way in which I will run into them for the 4th time in a row. It just wasn't possible.

The bell rang just in time and Hyuuga dragged his chair back to his spot diagonal from me.

* * *

I walked home from school today. I walked because my house was fairly close. Okay, it wasn't for that particular reason, it was because I forgot my train pass at home. So, I was enjoying my walk, when I heard an eerily familiar voice squawk from not too far away. And, as I said, it was an eerily familiar voice, hence I had to go check on it, to see if _that _idiot had gotten caught for burning a house down or some crime like that. I ran towards the direction of the noise and wound up by a vending machine, where those two were standing, buying a drink or two.

"Takao, it is just a can of red bean soup."

"But it's disgusting! Who eats soup from a can!?" Said person shrieked. "Oh look, it's Riko-chan! Fun meeting you here!"

"Yes… to thank my luck." I trailed off. "Anyways, what are you two doing here?"

"We're on our way back to Shin-chan's place!" The Hawk Eye possessor explained. "Would you like to come for dinner?"

"No. That seems a little inappropriate, doesn't it? A girl going to a boy's house, one she barely knows." I told Takao. "Besides, I have to keep my house. My father is away."

"Ne? So ask him if you can join us for dinner!" Takao insisted I do so. "I can ask him for you!"

"No- Hey, wait, give that back!"

He yanked my bag from me with one swift motion and rummaged through it without a slightest bit of what I call 'my permission'. And surpisingly, Midorima just let him. I am seriously disappointed. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for Takao to pull out my phone. My old and rusty phone. He retrieved it from my back compartment, where I usually keep it, as it was closer to my body.

"Hmm… Let's see… There we go, Dad!" Takao pressed a few buttons and waited for my father to pick up. "Oh, hello there, Aida-san? I would like to invite your daughter to dinner. Oh? My test rank? Why, I'm 1st out of 200! What time I will get her home by? 8! Just in time for bed! Who will be there? My mother and my father! Is that all? Hmm? Yes, thank you! Good evening!"

I stood there, opposite of him, with my mouth agape and my eyes metaphorically bulging of their sockets. My father did not just let these two, especially Takao Kazunari. And I also could not believe Midorima Shintaro, the person I thought I could trust was standy by, letting his comrade coax my own father into letting me visit his house! The nerve of these two, I would go far as to say they were as ballsy as Izuki was when he dared stalk me.

"Takao, did you just use my information to coerce Aida's father into letting her visit my home?" Midorima finally spoke up after my agony in his silence. "That's awfully shallow of you."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm as shallow as a kiddy's pool." Takao shrugged. "Come on, but at least we have Riko-chan to ourselves! Let's get going now!"

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked him. It was important to plan what stupid things he might get us into at certain places. "I mean, you aren't exactly planning to make me visit _his _house, are you?"

"Of course! Let's go now!"

* * *

I crossed my arms firmly over my chest. Sexual harassment could happen here, you know? And well, it says it could happen to anyone, so I should not be taking these two lightly, even if Midorima doesn't seem like the person to commit such filthy acts. But who knows? We _are _at a specially hormone-contaminated age. Currently I was sitting comfortably in Kelp's plush arm chair, which, clashed terribly with his hair. It was red. It made him look like a wax Christmas statue which no one bothered to move up to the attic. Or throw away.

Takao was sitting on the floor, scrolling through something on Midorima's laptop and said owner of laptop was in the kitchen, preparing our dinner. Apparently, he was the only one out of the three of us that was capable of preparing something edible, so he was left to the task of cooking. I felt guilty, though. He was already hosting us, there was no way he should also cook by himself. Guilt-tripped, I crawled (Metaphorically, there was no way I'd crawl literally, as that would provide Takao a view of my skirt.) into the kitchen.

"Ah, uh, Midorima?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's you, Aida-san."

"Umm, Aida will do." I told him. I suppose after three days of putting up with Takao together, calling me without any suffixes was not a far stretch. "Can I help you?"

"You want to… help me?" He looked surprise. I didn't know what he was surprised about, it was an act of gratefulness. Again, I am mooching off a free meal, I had to pitch in somehow. "Well, if that is what you wish to do. You can go cut those apples for me."

"Are you… serious?"

"Deadly."

"So you're not…?" I really couldn't tell if he was joking or not. For instance, he wasn't the person to joke. But then it really sounded like he was joking. "I'll just cut them anyways, as they will ruin your bandages."

"Thank you."

I set the bowl of wet apples on to the table and seat myself, beginning to attempt to skin the apples. I am pretty sure I will fail almost immediately, but I try anyways. It was the least I could do. I hated owing people, especially people who I shouldn't be owing at all.

"So, how is school?"

"It's fine. My team thinks I'm dating either you or Takao. They stalked me the other day, you see." I told him. "How about you?"

"Takao insist we have beautiful smart infants." He stated straight out. "I believe those many milkshakes have finally seeped into his brain. Not that there was much of one in the first place."

I chuckled. It was the closest thing he's said to a joke since we first met. Again, not a person to joke about anyone or anything but Takao. I carefully skimmed the knife underneath the peel, making sure I do not cut and a make a complete fool out of myself. Plus, I am pretty sure no one would like to bite into dessert and find my blood on it. I cut myself anyways, despite my efforts to conceal my lack of skills in the kitchen.

"Aww, crap."

"What is it?"

"Do you have any band aids around?" I sucked on my finger. "I accidentally cut myself."

"Oh, they're in the bathroom."

"And where are the bathrooms?" I asked him like I didn't know where the bathroom was. Which I really did not. "It's my first time here."

"It's down the hall, next to my bedroom. It won't be hard to miss."

* * *

When he said it wasn't hard to miss, he was correct, as the a large vintage door sign with the words 'Bathroom' painted on in cursive was nailed to the door. I retrieved the bandages from the first aid cabinet and wrapped my cut thumb quickly, returning to the kitchen without taking much time. I resumed my job of skinning the apples.

"You don't have to do that, if you don't know how to." He told me as he wiped his hands on a cloth. "You'll just cut yourself more."

"And you've never cut yourself before?" I retorted. "I highly doubt that."

"No. I have never cut myself before. Not on my fingers, at least." Midorima walked over to the table and seated himself opposite of me. "Now, hand them over. At your current rate, we will have finished eating before those apples are ready."

"Alright."

I pushed the tub of apples over to him and let him take it from there. I watch him work his way through the skins flawlessly. The last time I cooked, I was amazed that I did not cut all my fingers off. But even with bandaged and restricted fingers, Midorima managed to skin them perfectly without cutting himself. Amazing.

"Midorima, you're left handed?"

"Yes. I am left-handed." He replied, placing the plate of apples into his fridge. "Dinner should be ready soon… We just need to wait for the rice to finish."

* * *

We joined Takao in the sitting room after that brief conversation, only to find that the idiot had managed to get his legs stuck under the table and can't seem to get them out. Well, we made sure he wouldn't be moving for quite a while. I run my hands through Midorima's carpet. It's soft, like the carpet which could be used for bedding, not the flooring carpet. When you talk about it, his place was pretty nice, it had an amount of bedrooms, a cosy kitchen at least three bathrooms by the look of it. My house? Not so much the same. I haven't been to any place but the bathrooms, but I could deduct that the house was neat overall.

"Hey, hey, Riko-chan, help me out of this, will you?" Takao tried to plead to me. "Yeah!? Please!"

"No." I flatly rejected him. "How's Shutoku?"

"It's okay. Like always." Takao replied. "But… we've been talking an awful lot about school. Let's change the subject! So, Riko-chan, do you have a boyfriend?"

"N-No! And what kind of an idiot asks a girl he just met about that!?" I yelled in an outburst. "Oh, umm, sorry about that. No. I don't have a, well, a boyfriend."

"And Shin-chan doesn't have a current love interest either! That makes you guys-

"Please. Takao, we are barely a metre away from you and your mouth. Lower your volume." Midorima finally broke in. "And apologise to Aida."

"Hmm? Oh really? What ever happened to 'Aida-san'?" He sneered. "Haha, just joking! God, calm down. Sorry by the way, Riko-chan."

"Hmph. Apology accepted." I nodded. "Now, can we change the subject?"

"Alright… Is it true that you used to date Kiyoshi-san but then he broke up with you because he thought you were in love with Hyuuga-san?" Takao bombarded. "Is it?"

"Err, what?" I murmured. "NO. Definitely not true. I didn't go out with either of them."

"Really…? Hmm… alright!" He clasped his hands together. "Oh, yeah! Do you like anyone in school?"

"I like my team." I answered flatly. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Like… _Like-like_." He stressed. "Like as in… the person who you would give chocolates to like."

"Oh? No. I don't like anyone like that." I told him. "I think dinner's about ready, don't you, Midorima?"

"Ah, yes."

"So let me get this straight. You don't like anyone in your school. You don't like Shin-chan. You don't like me." Takao pretended to be in deep thought. "Or, or, _is it me_?"

"Pfft, don't flatter yourself, Takao." I snorted. "As if I would like you."

"Ouch, that hurted, Riko-chan."

After we had evacuated to the kitchen to eat, Takao still refused to drop the subject at hand. Which subject? Well, the subject at hand was, me. Yes, we were still talking about me and my love life, or lack thereof. And the bastard simply would not drop the subject off the side of the Earth! Damn it, I felt like flipping tables. Not that I would do that in Midorima's house, I'd feel sorry for him, he has to clean up anyways. We were eating some sauteed vegetables and fried fish, courtesy of Midorima and his well stocked fridge.

"Are you still a virgin?"

What. Did. The. Bastard. Just. Asked. Me!?

"W-WHAT!?" I shrieked. "W-WHY WOULD I TELL YOU THAT!?"

"Takao… Apologise. Now."

I looked up from my bowl of rice and saw the two in the midst of a staring contest. I had to place my bet on Midorima, since he was on my side. That was incredibly… whack of Takao.

"Ngh… Well I guess I should. I'm sorry for asking you about such a rude subject."

"Good." Kelp nudged his glasses up. "And as an apology, you will go home after dinner. I will see Aida home myself."

"Okay… Sounds awfully suspicious to-

"Eat. Then leave. Okay?"

"Y-Yes sir!"

* * *

"I'm sorry about that." He said to me as we washed the dishes. "He was far too out of line."

"No… It's okay. It wasn't your fault. And to be honest, I'm not that offended." I dried the edge of a plate. "I guess I was kind of shocked, that was all. No one's asked me that before."

"So you didn't mind him asking you that?"

"No. I guess not."

"Then, do you mind me asking you some questions?" He asked, straight. "If you don't want to answer any of them, just say so."

"Yeah. Sure."

"What is your relationship with Hyuuga-san?"

I thought on that for a while. I definitely did not feel any feelings for Hyuuga that stepped out of the friendship line. I used to. But then I realised that the team was the only reason we were connected to each other. Envisioning a future with him wasn't easy. Or possible at that matter. I shook my head.

"We are just friends." I said. "Rumours are just rumours."

"It would seem so. My second question, why have you not sought for a… boyfriend, yet?"

"I didn't need one. Hence, I didn't want one." I answered. "Is that all?"

"I believe so." He nodded. "Is there anything you wanted to ask me?"

"Okay." I agreed. "First, why do you not have a girlfriend? I mean, you are quite a good-looking boy, you're not too bad at athletics and academics, so why haven't you gotten one? Is it because you weren't interested?"

"Like you, I didn't feel the need to have one." Midorima explained. "So I didn't sought out one."

"I see."

* * *

"Well, this was an enjoyable night, for the most part."

"It certainly was an interesting one."

"So… good night."

I offered him a hand, which he shook. I know, so close, it was practically like we're smothering each other. Yeah, my sarcasm's a bit stale, boo hoo.

After he left, I locked the door and jumped straight into the bath. It was good to get cleaned up.

Then I got into bed and sleep did not run very far from me that night.

* * *

**AN: Bloody hell, this chapter was looooong. To me, anyways. Hmm, yeah, some actual hint at what might be romance, _migh be, _because I always thought Riko would trust someone like Midorin. He just seems like someone who wouldn't easily betray you, you know?**

**Also, sorry if I made any typos, running through this thing a third time was just in emoticon language.**

**So, enjoy and review!**

**THIS CHAPTER WAS LOOONG. The longest thing I have published to date. My butt hurts sitting at my chair writing this.**

**Oh, and thanks all of you guys for the reviews! Especially about how I keep them in character... I don't know if I did in this chapter. I wanted more intense bonding... But, it depends on your point of view. **


	6. Chapter 6

"God damn you, Takao!" I yelled at him as I yanked hard on the metallic machine. "How stupid can you get!?"

"It hurts, Riko-chan!"

First, I have to explain, that this ordeal, was not my fault. It was all Takao's. Next, I feel like I should explain what this ordeal is, for I was sitting on top of Takao, yanking a toaster from his right hand. Yes, you read that last line right, I was yanking a _toaster _from his right hand. I cannot even comprehend how he got his hand stuck in the toaster in the first place, and I cannot even dare to ask about how stupid he could get. Midorima was sitting on the couch, calm and composed as always, reading a book whilst I was battling with a toaster. I sometimes respect him for being able to put up with Takao and his antics.

"Err, Midorima? Care to help, please?"

It was six, when I received a call asking me to come over to Midorima's place, saying that there was a 'dilemma' in which he needed my help. I was expecting a leaked pipe or a burning house, it seemed more probable than what I was dealing with, anyways. However, when I got there, Takao was lying on the ground, with a very irritated Midorima standing on top of him, trying to pull the toaster off his right hand. I did not even try to ask how he got his hand stuck in a toaster in the first place. I just walked over, pushed the boy on top off and began yanking myself.

Midorima stood up, walked to the bathroom and came back with a bottle of baby lotion. I, again, did not even try to ask why he had baby lotion in his bathroom.

"Here." He handed it to me. "Pour it on his hand."

"You waited _that _long to lube my hand out!?" Takao shrieked. "You two are so mean!"

"Yeah, okay, deal with it, you got your stupid hand stuck in the damn toaster in the first place!"

I uncapped the bottle and squirted a little bit into the toast slit. Then, I mercilessly pulled the machine away from him. It slid out smoothly and the white lotion dripped out from above.

"I believe you owe Aida a 'thank you' for all her trouble." Midorima nudged Takao's chin with his foot. "Go on."

"Thanks, Riko-chan!" He chirped happily. _Way too happily_, for my taste. He sprung at me and suffocated me with his arms. "Aren't you the savior!"

"Why don't you, err, go thank Midorima, instead?" I shoved his cheek away from mine before he got a little too close. "I have to go now. Pleas _hesitate _to call me."

I grabbed my bag, slipped on my shoe and closed the door behind me. Troublesome idiot(s). I was curious, though, how did he get his hand stuck in a toaster when Midorima was around? Well, some mysteries better be left mysteries, I guess.

* * *

I sipped on the milkshake, overjoyed. It was one of those few times when I felt like the world was truly at peace and that none of the boys were up to something bad. Boy, was I wrong. Well, why can't a girl just enjoy her Friday afternoon normally!? My phone rang and I pulled it out of my bag, annoyed as fuck.

_Riko-chan!_

_Want to hang out with us this Saturday?_

Takao.

_Where are we going? _

I texted back. I had to know, because who knows what crazy shenanigans he might be dragging me into, and in what place.

_Shin-chan's place! His family's going to be there, they want to know who you are! Isn't that great!?_

Well, I guess I was a girl who visited there house, I ought to at least introduce myself to them. It was only the correct thing to do, after all, I can't have them thinking I was some whore who, err, well, you know what I mean, with their son, can I? I had my dignity to keep.

_Okay... Pick me up?_

I texted back.

_Yep! 10 o'clock, sharp! Bye!_

I'll have to go home and explain this to my dad, somehow. And just hope he won't try to murder Takao. You know, that I minded if he was murdered, at least noise pollution will go down a lot more. I picked up my cup of shake and began to head home. And to think I was going to have a peaceful week, for once. But then, what was I to expect from Takao Kazunari? I just hope my team doesn't have anything in store for me this weekend.

* * *

"And when will you get her back?"

"Six o'clock, sir." He answered sharply. "If anything were to happen to her, I will take responsibility."

"That's good. Who will be there?" My father narrowed his eyes at the taller boy.

I wanted to facepalm myself so hard, my hand would go through my forehead. I had woken up early that morning, to sort through my clothes for something that was modest enough, but not too grandma-ish. I had found this sundress with puffy sleeves and a bow in the back. I guess my mother must have bought it for me to grow into. I threw that on and a pair of flats.

"My family, including my mother, my father and my little sister. And Takao, here." Midorima gestured to the grinning boy next to him. "Any more questions, sir?"

"Hmm… no." My father finally backed off. "Remember, six, sharp."

Midorima bowed and my father finally closed the door behind me. Of course, I knew he was still looking at us through the peep hole. Typical dad. Takao stayed unusually silent, that was, until we turned the corner and out of my house's sight. Then he just bursted out into a thousand words.

"Ohmigod, Riko-chan! You're father was so strict! I could wet my pants!" He whined. "I thought we weren't going to make it out of there!"

"Takao." The taller one glared down at his friend. "Shut up."

"So… your family, eh?" I said. "How are they?"

"My mother is a, well, professor." Midorima told us. "And my father is the head master of an academy outside of the city. He comes home once every month."

"And your sister?"

"She's a middle school student. She's-

"She's just like Shin-chan!" Takao cut in cheerily. "She's adorable! You're going to totally love her!"

"I hope." I muttered. "Anyways, let's just get going."

* * *

The house stood before us, brightly lit and an aura of warmth emitted from it. Right. It didn't look too bad. We walked up to the front door and he pushed it open. I took off my shoes and placed them neatly in the corner. There were a few pair of sneakers strewn everywhere, but they looked like Midorima's. Turns out, they weren't _all _his.

"Midorimacchi!"

I recognised that voice anywhere. It was the voice of the very pretty, very blonde and very very happy small forward of Kaijo. Did I mention also very very loud and very very obnoxious? Said blond jumped out from the stairs and on to the floor infront of us with a very ungraceful 'thump'.

"Oh? You brought a girl!" Kise squealed and I brought my hands up to cover my ears. "Midorimacchi brought a girl!"

"What?"

I felt like the ground should just open up and let me climb into it. A white haired boy walked down the stairs, accompanied by another tall boy.

"Coach!?" Said taller boy shrieked. "We knew it! You were totally going out with Midorima!"

"I am not going out with Midorima-kun." I told him. "And I hope you enjoy triple training next week… Kagami-kun."

Kagami immediately shut up and I nodded, satisfied.

"I should go say hello to Midorima-kun's parents." I said. "Where are they?"

"They should be in the kitchen." Midorima answered. "Takao, you stay with these three, please."

"Alright!" Takao cheered as the four of them thumped their way upstairs. "Let's go!"

* * *

When we got to the kitchen, a lady around the age of fourty was there, cubing chicken. A girl, who I guessed was his sister, sat at the table, reading a book. I guess it was the genes. She wore her hair in plaits and wore glasses, you could say she was the exact imprint of Midorima, except she was a girl. Neither of them seemed to notice me.

"Umm… Hello. I'm Aida Riko, I'm a friend of your son's."

The lady turned to look at me. She had a very soft smile on her face, different from what I thought his mother would do.

"Ah, we've heard stories of you from Takao-kun! He says you're a very charming young lady, isn't that right, Shin-chan?"

"M-Mother!" He shrieked. "Anyways, this is Aida Riko, as she said. She's a friend of mine. She was the girl I brought home for dinner the other day."

"Th-Thank you for inviting me to lunch!" I bowed as a sign of respect. "It is an honour."

"Honour? No, dear, the more the merrier." She smiled. "Shin-chan hasn't got many girl friends around."

The girl sitting in the corner of the room hasn't budged since I walked in. I really hope I haven't done something to tick her off, in any way.

"So… you're my brother's girlfriend?" She looked up to me with her long lashed eyes. "Shin-chan, is she your girlfriend?"

"No."

"Err, I'm Aida Riko, what's your name?" I asked her. "You're his sister, right?"

"I don't have to tell you my name!"

She closed her book and stomped out of the kitchen, leaving a very confused me and seemingly not-confused Midorima Shintaro and his mother behind. I felt like I should ask, but then I was not sure if that was polite.

"D-Did I say something wrong?"

* * *

**AN: Muahahahahaha! Shin-chan's sister makes an appearance! I have a feeling she'd be very much like her brother. I don't know, female intuition? Anyways, Kagami and Kuroko and Kise makes an appearance too! I just felt like they should be there. Consider it like his mother invited them for dinner, on the assumption that they were his 'friends'. I don't really like the beginning of this chapter, but I liked the ending! This was incredibly short, I apologise! And some hints of romance. Hints. And nothing serious. **

**R&R**


	7. Chapter 7

"What's with her?" I asked him as we went through his old lucky items together. "She doesn't seem like she likes me."

"My sister, she does not have an awful lot of friends." He answered as he pulled out a length of masking tape. "She finds it hard to socialise with other girls her age. You shouldn't have to worry about her; I'm not asking you to."

Midorima's sister. Anti-social, huh? I guess I was surprised. Midorima seemed calm and collected, quiet, even, but he didn't seem to be anti-social. Takao and the other three went to the park together, whilst I helped him clean out his room for more space all of us can cram into. Piles and piles of stuffed animals, hair accessories, clothing, bathroom items and various other trinkets were stuffed into a large room in the back of the house, where we were supposed to clean out and use as a sitting room. His mother simply handed him a stack of flattened cardboard boxes and told me to go help him pack it up.

"I understand."

"You… understand?"

"I don't have a lot of friends, either. I don't have any friends of the same gender." I confessed. "I didn't mind though, I had my team and that was enough for me."

"And? Does your team feel the same way?" He said, monotonously. "Do they think it is just your obligation and duty to cater to their every need?"

I thought for a moment. I wouldn't say they were ungrateful, I _did _agree to become their coach. He was turned away from me, shoving his old lucky items into a box. He was silent, expecting me to answer.

"I-I don't know, to be honest." I replied. "I never thought about it. I just know that they're what matters."

He didn't reply. We just sat in silence until the last box was taped up and read to go.

"What are you going to do with these?" I asked. "Are you going to keep them all?"

"No. Mother donates them to charities." He stood up and dusted himself. "I'll just go get the cleaning supplies. This place isn't exactly… dust-free."

* * *

We started off with sweeping the place from top to bottom. It was dusty, alright. After that, Takao rolled down the stairs and offered his help, which we accepted, keeping high alert in case he got himself into some dumb situation, again. We mopped the place and moved the table from the kitchen into the room. Midorima's sister had gone upstairs to her room, quiet and still refusing to talk to me, even though she did converse with Takao. I was told to leave her alone and that she'd cool down soon.

Currently, Takao and I were sitting in the converted storage room, resting and sweating, him more than I, even though he mostly fooled around.

"You know, don't let it get on you, Shin-chan's sister is actually very sweet." Takao said. "She's very close to him."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah. A few years ago, she got into a… bullying incident," He explained. "It was with a group of girls in her class. They had a… schoolgirl crush on Shin-chan. They turned on her when it foiled though."

"W-What did they do?"

"They… They cut her hair. They took a shearer and… they sheared her hair off." He continued. "She bled. Bad. It took a few months for her hair to start covering the patches left by the shearer. It took another few months for her to comprehend standing in the same room with people. The first time I met her, she attacked me with a fork."

"Wow." I muttered. "I-I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." Takao stood up and dusted himself off. He offered me his hand, which I took. "Shin-chan cares a lot about her."

"I would think so." I nodded. "L-Let's go see if Midorima-kun needs help with loading the boxes upstairs."

* * *

"Rin-chan!" Takao yelled from the first floor. "Lunch is ready!"

"I'm coming!"

The younger girl walked down the stairs, donning a cardigan and a below-the-knee skirt. She still has her hair in plaits, but she has placed a headband in it. Rin, was it? She stared at me from above icily. Seriously though, what did I do to provoke her?

"Ah, Rin-chan! Aren't you cute today?" He grinned at the girl. "Where's your brother, eh?"

"S-Shut up."

I could see where Takao was coming from when he said she was the exact imprint of Midorima. She seemed like she was comfortable around Takao, though. I mean, he may be very irritating, annoying, loud and obnoxious at times, but you couldn't deny that he was a very charismatic person. Rin walked past me and into the storage-now-sitting-room, ignoring me completely. She was holding a book, with a pen wadded in between. The pen fell out with a soft 'clunk' but she doesn't seem to notice. I bent down and picked it up.

"Oh, hey, you dropped this-

She turned around and grabbed the pen from me, forcefully. And walked off.

"O-Oi, Rin-chan, say thank you to Riko-chan." He told her. "O-Oi!"

She stomped off anyways. Takao turned to look at me, even more confused than I was.

"M-Maybe you should talk to her." He mumbled under his breath. "After lunch."

* * *

I knocked on the door and exhaled loudly. No answer came. I waited and fiddled with the hem of my dress. Still no answer. I pondered on leaving.

"Go away." She said. "Leave me alone, please."

I pushed the door open and walked in anyway. I don't care if it was trespassing, I just had to talk to her. She sat in the corner of the room, a blanket tightly wrapped around her and the curtains drawn, lights turned off. It was dark. I had to strain my eyes to spot her. I walked over to her spot and sat next to her.

"I know." I began. "I don't have many friends either."

"No. You don't know anything." She muttered, her voice weak. "No one knows anything… They, they cut me! They cut my hair!"

She began to panic and coil in to a fetal position. She also began to cry, sobs in between groans. I froze. This was not the place to freeze over. Intuitively, I dashed out of the room and ran over to Midorima's bedroom, where I knew he and the boys would be. I shoved the door open with a loud 'bang'.

"Aida?"

"M-Midorima, come with me, your sister, she's-

He stood up and followed me immediately, without hesitation. I lead him to her room and opened the door gently. He crawled over to her spot on the floor, where she was shrivelled up and sobbing. The floor underneath was stained with tears and saliva.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-

"Ssh." He told both of us. "It's alright."

Midorima picked up her hands and held them in his. She seemed to have calmed down a bit, but the resentment towards me was still there. I felt guilty and ashamed. I shouldn't have come. We stayed like that, for god knows how long. Finally, she stopped crying and he left.

We were finally alone.

* * *

"Believe me. I know." I began again. "It's very lonely, isn't it? I can't imagine what it felt like."

"They cut me… And I bled." She responded. "I… I don't have any friends after that."

"Don't say such silly things." I said firmly. "You have Takao-kun. And now you have me."

"B-But you're my brother's friends."

"So? Can't we also be friends?" I smiled. "So, let's be friends."

"A-Alright." She blushed, taken aback. "C-Can I, can I ask you a question, A-Aida-san?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Do you, umm, like my brother?"

I choked. I certainly didn't. Not romantically, which was what she was asking about, anyways. But… It would make her happy then. I stayed silent for a moment.

"…Yes…"

I really couldn't believe I was lying through my teeth for the sake of a girl I met barely four hours ago.

"Really? Are you going to tell him?" She asked, cheered up. "Are you going to tell my brother?"

"Only when you tell Takao." I whispered cheekily. "Yes?"

"S-Shut up, I don't know what you're talking about!"

* * *

"That was awfully nice of you."

I froze and turned towards the way taller male, who was leaning against the wall, acting all cool. Did he listen to our conversation? I chuckled.

"She's sweet, your sister." I said. "She's the exact imprint of you, alright. But you might want to deal with Takao soon."

His lips cracked into the faintest smile. Come to think of it, I've never seen him smile before. He pushed his glasses up and crossed his arms over his chest again. I did it because it was the good thing to do. The right thing to do. The nice thing to do.

"So, have you thought about when you're going to 'tell me' yet?" He joked. "Or are you going to do that now?"

"You know, you better leave the joking up to Takao," I retorted. "He's a lot better at it."

"Oi, you two, are you going to come in? We're playing poker." Takao popped his head out from Midorima's room. "Kuroko's been winning a lot."

I groaned. Right. Leave it up to Takao to ruin the wistful moment. I crawled into the room, followed by a very irritated Midorima, more irritated by the fact that Takao could be heard all the way to China.

* * *

"Thanks for today!" I flashed him a smile. "It was fun!"

After his sister calmed down, we (Including her) played a few games of poker, in which Kuroko completely wiped the floor with us. Kise seemed the most butthurt over the whole ordeal of being wiped with. We went out to a movie about people with their heads being ripped off. Midorima glared holes into the back of Takao's head after his sister clutched on his dear friend for her life. I couldn't blame him. I mean, Takao? _Really._

"You're always welcome." He answered. "Any time, really."

I tip toed up on my front door's porch and lightly pecked his cheek.

"Thanks, anyways."

"Oh, err, umm, no problem." Midorima stuttered. "M-My pleasure."

I walked inside and closed the door behind me. It was an eventful day, alright. I hope hot showers like me that night.

* * *

**AN: AND AFTER ABOUT SIX CHAPTERS THEY FINALLY KISS. Lol, no, they didn't. Well, she kissed him, but there was no actual lip-on-lip action, but hey! Also, I don't intend to make Mido-chin's sister a big factor of this story, so… Don't expect much of her. It was really hard for me to write her, so just, ugh, you get me? I've actually had this chapter up for a while, just waiting for the right time to post it.**

**And I just have this thing in my head where Takao might have gone out/will go out with Mido-chin's younger sister, if they were in an age gap of say, 3 years or less.**

**And Midorima would just have his head.**

**I wrote all of this in one hour. Yay me!**

**R&R**


	8. Chapter 8

"The amusement park?"

"Yeah!" Takao shoved the poster into my face. "It just opened so there will be activities and events and stuff. It'll be fun."

"Sorry, but no thanks." I denied him politely. "I'm just not in the mood for amusement parks."

"But come on! They give away free cellphone straps at the gates and Shin-chan will be there too!" He begged. "Right, Shin-chan?"

It was becoming a regular thing now, them 'accidentally' running into me and us walking home together. Today was Friday, which meant it was time for Takao to come up with some crazy shit for us to do. And an amusement park was to be that weekend's activities. An amusement just outside the city. I have to say cellphone straps are quite appealing. I mean, they are cute.

"Alright, I'll go." I agreed. "As long as we don't get into any crazy shit."

"W-What are you talking about?" Takao sweated. He was going to lie about not getting us into crazy shit. He always does. "Of course we won't get into any crazy shi- I mean, things, right Shin-chan?"

"Don't ask me about this." Midorima drawled as he sipped on that ghastly thing called canned red bean soup. Just. Gross, okay? "I have no idea what you are up to."

"No one does." I commented.

As time passed, he looked like he finally got that stick removed from his ass. Which was a good thing. I hope. Takao grinned and snuck an arm around Midorima limply. The height difference was kind of adorable, almost like siblings. But it's hard to imagine that Midorima and Takao were siblings of the same bloodline, it was just really hard, even for me.

"So, tomorrow morning, yeah? We'll meet you by the Majiburger around the corner." Takao explained. "Remember to be on time!"

"Worry about yourself, you dork."

* * *

That morning I woke up and rolled out of bed again. Rolling seems like the only way I get out of bed nowadays. I got dressed in a long sleeve shirt and jeans, and just ate whilst walking to the Majiburger. The two were already there, Takao texting someone quite ferociously on his phone and Midorima… drinking soup. What is his obsession with red bean soup?

"Good morning." I walked up to them. "Shoul we get going now?"

"Ah yeah!" Takao placed his phone away in his backpack. "Let's go!"

* * *

**AN: Yeah, this is a REALLY short chapter, but the next one's going to have a lot of impact on the story, so… I wanted to see how you guys hold up. FORGIVE ME. Also, I'm writing a Nijimura/Riko fic, anyone interested?**


	9. Chapter 9

The entrance to the amusement park was fairly flashy, with gigantic blow up balloons and walking advertisements dressed up like various brands' mascots, it wasn't hard to miss it. Takao looked like he could burst into fits of happiness any time soon whilst Midorima looked like he couldn't really care less. Sometimes, I wonder if he hates Takao as much as he says he does, because even though doing things like this just tramples his dignity into a pulp, he still agrees to go along with it. I guess that's just the strength of the bond they share with each other. As soon as we stepped foot into the park, Takao really did burst into fits of happiness. It was like going to an amusement park with a four year old child. Except this four year old child was extremely obnoxious and spoke a lot more than he should be speaking.

"Ah, hey, we should go on the carousel." He said, pointing at the direction of a large carousel. It was painted in a mix of pastel and neon colours of all sorts and had faux gold trimmings on it's carousel poles. The classic carousel.

"Takao, there are only seats for two on the carousel." Midorima pointed out. "That would leave one of us alone."

"Hmm? I don't mind going alone." I said. Besides, it would be a lot more quiet than if I got stuck with Takao, which was a one in three chance that I did not want to take. Takao stared at me like I was joking, which I was not.

"We can't let a girl go alone! Where's the chivalry in that?" He said. "Why don't we do a rock paper scissors? Winner gets to go with Riko-chan!"

"Hey, there's really no need to-

"Alright, why not?"

Idiots will be idiots. I mean, what do they think, that I can't take care of myself? I can't really blame them though, chivalry is something that doesn't occur a lot nowadays… I stood and watched as they did a best 2 out 3. Takao won.

Good lord.

"Yes! I won!" Takao grinned as he looped his arm around my shoulder, much to my discomfort. I scowled at him, which he then replied with another hearty grin. That idiot. "I get to go with Riko-chan!"

"So be it."

We walked the few meters towards the carousel, which was fairly empty because most people preferred to wait until evening, when it lit up like a large neon sign, but we haven't got until evening. Takao and I got into a carousel shaped like a Pastel Goth horse cart and Midorima got into a tea cup one. They were fairly cute and the seating wasn't too bad. Takao seemed intent on sitting next to me, even though he had the opposite bench.

"Ah, isn't this pretty, Riko-chan?" He asked me, poking his head out of the carousel as it elevated us high up. "Look, you can see the water loop over there! We should go there next! And there's the laser tag place!"

"Ah, huh, yeah, I guess it is pretty cool." I scratched my head in awe. The place _was _pretty large and had a wide variety of rides, despite being extremely tacky. I was especially fond of the small carnival corner at the edge of the park, which hosted booths with traditional games. I could even see a fortune telling shack in said area. "I'd like to visit that carnival though. It looks interesting."

"Then we should go there soon!" Takao gave me a double thumbs up as he retreated back to his spot. "After we get something to eat and after we go to the haunted house, of course."

"Haunted… house?" I questioned. I'm not _really _terrified by haunted houses. But I was kind of peeved by them, they _are _quite creepy and distubring. Kind of like Akashi. "Do we have to go there…?"

"Aw, are you scared, Riko-chan?" He wrapped one arm around me tightly, I could feel my shoulders tense up. "That's okay! I will protect you!"

"Yeah, yeah." I scowled at hiim before gently pushing him off. "We'll see who protects who."

After the fairly enjoyable ride, we got off to find a not-so-happy Midorima, who had apparently gone to get rid of a bag of vomit, which his ride partner, a thirteen year old girl, had managed to puke up. She also seemed to be quite flustered to me, but I'm not awfully puzzled by that, he _is _a Miracle. And well, they're just different like that. He dusted his sleeve off (What was there, anyway?) and handed me a handkerchief.

"Um, uh, thanks, I guess?" I replied awkwardly. What, did I have something on my face? "But I don't need it right now, sorry."

"Oh. It was just in case you were feeling nauseated like my carousel mate did." He told me. "So, where shall we go next?"

"Ah, to eat." Takao moaned. I admit, I was quite hungry. "And then, to the haunted house!"

"Lunch wouldn't be bad…" I added. "If that's okay with you."

Midorima nodded. 2 against 1 I guess. But it would be pretty inhuman if he wasn't hungry by now. Takao looped his arm around mine and Midorima's and wedged himself between us happily. Kind of like a family where the four year old kid was taller than his mother.

"Alright! Let's go!"

After Takao ordered our food from the counter, Kelp decided to go the washing room, so I stayed and watched our table, a nice booth in the corner of one of the various fast food restaurants in the park. It was packed, and we were lucky to have seats, as many people were eating outside on tarps spreaded across the grass. A group of boys, about my age walked up to our booth.

"Can I help you?" I looked up at them from my phone. They sneered at me. Fucking cunts. Pardon my language.

"Yeah. We need this table. And we also need a girl. You're not exactly the figure, but you'll do the cut."

I stared out the corner of my eyes. Are they serious? What, have I got some luck for attracting dumb losers in restaurants?

"How about no." I told them. "Now, shoo."

I was here to have a good time with my friends (Even after how annoying one of them are), not to be disturbed by thugs again.

"Hey, stop being so stubborn."

"I said no, we were here first." I tried again. "Now, can you leave?"

"We? I don't see anyone else here, are you mad, lady?"

One of them grabbed my arm and attempted to yank me out of the booth and I tried to wrestle my arm out of him.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing to my friend?" Takao ran up to me, holding a tray of our food. Great timing. I've got to thank him after this one. "Let her go, or I'll call the security."

"Tch, fine."

The group let go of me and I slumped back down into the seats. Takao slid in next to me and handed me my order. A chocolate shake and a set of honey nuggets and rice. He began to unwrap his shrimp burger and took a bite out of it.

"Sorry about that, I could have come back earlier." He apologised. He actually sounded serious and mature for once and I gave him a soft smile in return. He deserved one, anyway. "Were you hurt?"

"No, thanks for coming." I thanked him. "When's Midorima going to be back-Woah, coincidence much."

Megane-kun there walked over to us, looking pissed off at something.

"Hey, you're back, Shin-chan!" Takao brightened up. "What's got your boxers in a twist- Ah, did you know, Riko-chan, Shin-chan wears boxers instead of-ouch."

"She does not need to know what I prefer for my underwear." Midorima scoffed. "And furthermore, the toilet ran out of paper… I had to wipe my hands on my trousers."

After the lunch, we ventured halfway across the park towards the leaning, towering haunted house, painted grey and decorated with faux blood and zombie heads, because, you know, artistic license. Takao looked really impressed and excited, I was just really, very, umm, creeped.

"So, shall we go in?" Takao looked at the two of us. "I'll go get the tickets!"

"I think I shall sit out of this," Midorima told us. "It isn't my type of entertainment, unfortunately."

"Aww, alright then."

"Whew, that was, umm, scary!" Takao scratched the nape of his neck awkwardly. He's faking it. He really wasn't awfully impressed with it. It still managed to scare the shit out of me though. "Were you scared, Riko-chan?"

"Huh, n-ngh, 'course not!"

"Heh, you were scared, weren't you?" He teased. Cheeky bastard. "That's alright, you've got me!"

I threw him a scowl, which he responded with another grin.

And?

And what? What do you want to ask?

He snaked his fingers around mine and clasped them together.

Why do I not like this?

**AN: DUN DUN DUN. Takao x Riko time. Lol, no, this is still MidoRiko fic, don't worry!**

**Also, important update, I won't be able to update regularly as before, so I'll update on weekends, Jakarta, Bangkok and Hanoi timezone. Thanks for reading, muh lovers! **


	10. Chapter 10

"They're satellites."

"What are you talking about, they're stars." I glared at him. "I mean, there's no way satellites are this pretty."

"Regardless, they are satellites." He said. "But you can choose to believe they are stars, if you wish to do so."

I turned to look at him quizzically. Does he always have to ruin these special moments? Wait, what am I talking about, of course he has to ruin them, he's him. But, really, I didn't mind, nothing could ruin the beautiful scenery. Of course, we knew we would be banned from amusement parks for life if we were caught, but, well, the chances were low. Being this high, it was almost like, well, I don't know what it was like, it was just very, very magical and delightful.

"So, he… did that?" He asked me. "He really did that?"

"Yeah." I said, a bit of remorse in my voice. "But we shouldn't be talking about that."

"I could wait. We _are _in a Ferris wheel bunk, we've got all the time in the world."

Right. We were on top a Ferris wheel, at midnight, illegally. I don't encourage this kind of behaviour, but he _did _go through stealing the keys from the security guard, so it was rude of me not to enjoy it. But I was enjoying it, and without faking, I tell you. This, in those cheesy dramas would be when they kiss, but that would be absurd. He tapped the seat cushions as if to tell me to sit down and begin talking. I did.

"So, tell me, what do you feel about, the incident?"

"God, Midorima, we're high school students, not little kids, you can just say it." I laughed. "I'm okay with it."

I lied through my teeth. I'm not sure if I was good or not, but I really was not okay with it, I freaked out. Nobody had gotten that close to me before and I was not completely comfortable with it happening. But I knew Takao was a good person, he wouldn't hurt me, so it was less frightening than it would be. After he saw my confused expression, he let go immediately and apologised profusely, which I said I forgave him for. And I did forgive him. I bear no grudge against him, none at all. It was just a new experience, holding hands with someone who might have felt romantic attraction towards me. It was funny, but it was a real possibility.

"Are you really okay with it, though?" Midorima said, sternly. Gee, it looked like he was really concerned about me. I smiled. "If there is anything you want to say, you can tell me, I won't gossip about it, I'm not that type of person."

"Of course you're not." I smiled. "And trust me, if I did feel uncomfortable about it, I'd tell you."

He frowned and did that megane thing.

"And? Do you feel the same way about him?" He asked me. "Takao, I mean."

"I-I don't know." I answered honestly. Because I really didn't know what I felt about him. "If we had more time, maybe I could fall for him, it just happened too fast, and I can't give him a proper response."

"I see." Midorima replied, his eyes narrowed. "And, what if, you really do end up liking him in the course of time, and he becomes unavailable?"

"Look, I don't like him now." I said, firmly. I don't want to deal with this now, not when we were looking at such a beautiful scenery and enjoying such a beautiful moment. He really _did _have to go and ruin everything, didn't he? "And, it's silly anyway, I have university after this year, I don't want to get too committed to anyone who I might have to say goodbye to."

"I see." He repeated, looking dejected. I wonder. "It's a perfect line of logic, isn't it."

"Why? You look upset, did I say something?" I asked him. He was fiddling with the collar of his shirt. "Sorry, okay."

"Hmm? No, it wasn't something you said." He told me. "I was just wondering about some-W-Whoa."

The Ferris wheel jerked to a stop, making me fall back into the seat and him sock himself in the chin. Holy shit. Did we, did we just. Did we just get trapped in a Ferris wheel!? Midorima sighed and rubbed his temples, probably pissed off. I couldn't help but make him feel better. So I hopped over to his side and sat next to him again.

"Hey, you want to talk?" I asked him. "About things?"

"I have nothing to talk about."

"How's Rin?"

"She's doing well, she's finally making friends." He cracked an almost invisible smile. It was good to know she was doing well. "What about Seirin?"

"Ahah! I'm not telling you about my team!" I joked. "Wouldn't want to be spilling secrets now, would I?"

"I wouldn't dare."

I laughed. It was good to sit and talk with each other like friends do. Sure, the boys were my friends, but they never really sat and talked or joked about me like this. And it was nice, getting talked about in a nice way. I could definitely see why people wanted to be famous and well liked.

"Any special girl in your life right now?" I asked him jokingly. "Come on, you can tell me!"

"Well, there is this one girl… S-She's very nice." He turned beet red, even under the moonlight it was evident. "But, she isn't i-interested in a relationship."

"Ah, she sounds mean…" I whispered. "Is she pretty?"

"S-she doesn't know it."

He turned away from me, red. Ah, the tsunderella in its natural habitat, it was adorable. I sat and looked at him for a while. Well, he was certainly good looking, tall, he has beautiful eyes and long lashes and he wasn't intellectually handicapped. He stared out the window distantly. I wondered what he was thinking about. Was he thinking about her? That was kind of sweet. I always figured that he'd be that, 'Love only comes once' type of guy.

"Well," I placed my hand on his and gave it a light squeeze. "I'm sure, if you tell her, she'll return your feelings! I mean, come on! You're Midorima Shintarou, you shoot from across the court _and _you're very smart! Any girl would be dumb to reject you!"

"W-What the hell are you talking about?"

"But, looks could use a little work on." I winked. "Ah, I have to text my father…"

I pulled my phone out and texted my father a short and sem-apologetic text explaining how I went over to a 'girl friend's house' for a sleepover. I don't know how long we could be here, possibly until morning, and I wouldn't want him to worry. I tucked the phone into my bag and walked over to the other side and lay down in a fetus position. Midorima stared at me, puzzled.

"What?"

"W-Why are you lying down?"

"I'm just lying down for a bit." I told him as i tucked by arm under my head. "It looks like we're going to be here for quite a bit. Might as well lie down. We could talk, while I lie."

"What about you? Do you have anyone who is currently attracting you?" He asked me as he remained seated. "It seems like you and that captain of yours are quite… close."

Hyuuga? Well, I already said that I didn't feel any romantic attraction for him, but he was nice friend, a responsible capatain, maybe, maybe if I was a different person in a different situation, maybe I would like him in that way. But I'm not a different person and I'm not in a different situation, I am me, and I am in this current situation of life. And there's no problem with it, I don't want to be in a different life or be a different person, I like to coach, I like to learn in Seirin, I like my team… And I like Takao and Midorima. I smiled a little at that thought, which to Midorima giving me a weird eyebrow being raised.

"What are you smiling about, now?" He asked me.

"Nothing. And no, I don't like Hyuuga-kun." I reassured him. "So, are you going to insist on sitting until they let us out?"

"Well, I obviously can't fit on these seats," Midorima began. Well, I didn't notice. "So I would have to sit upright, wouldn't I?"

That was true, he was tall, and lying down on the bench like me wouldn't be a very good choice for his back. A wrong bad back could affect his game play, and that would be disastrous, for him. I shifted into a position like the ones you see bikini girls do in movies and rested my head on my hand, blowing a tuff of my hair off.

"Well, this is fun." I sighed. "We've got the space between the seats, maybe you could lie there…"

"It's dirty."

I pulled out a tarp I took from his rickshaw from my bag and unfolded it. It was large enough to cover the area of the ferris wheel bunk, I spreaded it out and did a little fold at the top as a pillow. He watched me, puzzled, again. I tapped the tarp, telling him to just get over his tsundere complex and lie the fuck down already. He rolled his eyes. Are we going to seriously have an argument with eyes? No, I don't think so.

"Lie, the fuck, down." I glared at him and he finally agreed to lie down and stop being such a tsundere. He crawled down on to the floor, but did not lie down. "Now."

Sighing, he laid his kelpy head on to the makeshift pillow and stared off into space, thinking about what, I didn't know. I retreated back on to my seat and we just lay in silence. However, it was clear that sleep would choose to avoid us that night. Midorima seemed intent on falling asleep, as he has his glasses off next to him.

Let me tell you, being this high up at midnight was rather cold. It wasn't the normal straight on cold, little swoops of air would blow in occasionally, and will occasionally make you get goosebumps.

"You know, it's a bit cold." I stated. "We're kind of high up, aren't we?"

"Hmm? Yes, it is a bit chilly." Midorima flipped around to lie on his back and stared into the ceiling. "You can have my outer shirt, if you wish."

"W-What the hell are you saying!?" I shrieked. Like hell I would take any piece of clothing that's touched a man's bare chest, what kind of girl did he think I was? I crossed my arm in an 'X' and waved them around frantically. "Why would I need your shirt!? And besides, would-wouldn't you get cold?"

"I would."

"Then why the hell did you offer me your shirt then?" The idiot. "Keep it."

"Can you move a bit, please?"

"Hmm?"

I rolled on to my other side, my arm felt a bit dead, I was probably lying on it. And I freaked. I screamed, well, at least, I tried to, before his hand muffled me.

"It's only 2 in the morning, Aida." Midorima reminded me. "And, you fell on to the tarp yourself, after I was asleep and magically implanted yourself in my arms. A feat, that I find just as uncomfortable with as you do."

"So… I guess sleeping's not a choice anymore, huh." I scratched my neck awkwardly. "Sorry, by the way. So what do you want to talk about?"

"Nothing. I don't feel the need to talk about anything." He answered coldly. Did I do something wrong? He sat up and looked dejectedly out the windows behind me. "You should sleep, though."

"Hey, what do you mean, _I _should sleep? You're an athlete, you should rest, not sleeping is bad for your health." I shot him a coy look and crossed my arms over my chest. "And besides, your arm must hurt a lot from, well, you know… Sorry."

He didn't answer me, and instead just laid back down on his back with his hands on his stomach and his legs pulled up. I flicked my phone open and began a game of Snake, and it was peaceful soon enough. I flexed my arms after clutching my phone to me for like an hour. It hurted a bit, and I could hear is softly crack. Midorima had flipped over to a fetus position and was breathing rhythymically. It was dark in the bunk, and silence was around us. I bent down and draped a bit of the leftover tarp over him and ruffled his hair gently. It was like watching a baby sleep.

"Heh. You're pretty cute aren't you." I whispered under my breath. I wasn't lying, he was, almost breathtaking. "You tsunderella."

I lay down next to him and just lied on my back like that. Sleep came soon enough.

**AN: HOLY SHIT THAT FOUR PAGES LONG WITH OVER 2000 WORDS. I hope you guys liked it! And yeah, double points if you guys know where I got the Ferris Wheel idea from. So, yeah! Big changes! Read and Review, my lovely readers!**


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